Build Help: Tanky Warlock

[Bobbyjackcorn]

Hi, I'm mulling over my next level for a character I'm playing and wanted to see what everyone recommends. Here's as much as I can recall of him without my sheet on-hand.

Fighter 2/Warlock 5
18
16
18
10
12
18

GOOlock Pact-o-blade (Glaive)

Invocations:
Eldritch Sight
Eyes of the Runekeeper
Thirsting Blade

Cantrips:
Eldritch Blast
Prestidigitation

Spells:
Hex
Misty Step
Invisibility
Vampiric Touch
Fly

It seems weird but I function as the (very small) group's tank in combat. I was considering taking a few levels in barbarian to nab the Bear Totem DR, and our DM rules that ASI's/Feats are gained by total level, so my next level I was considering taking GWM or Tough.

[rbstr]

Pick up one or two of the Warlock's defensive spells.
Armor of Agathys of Mirror Image are both good in different ways. Neither needs concentration. Mirror Image for heavy hitting single creatures, AoA for smaller stuff/packs.
If you get up to Warlock 7 there's Shadow of Moil which is quite good too.

A bit of Barbarian works well with Armor of Agathys as well...but I don't think I really recommend it here. Getting a Fighter archetype (Cavalier might be good!) or just more Warlock are probably the more powerful options.
For feats:
GWM won't help you tank...but Polearm Master would big time plus give you an always-on bonus action attack.
You already have an 18 in con, I don't see Tough being that valuable. Did you take fighter at level 1 for con save proficiency? If not Warcaster might be a good idea.
Heavy armor master works well with Armor of Agathys.

[Malifice]

Step one - play a fiend warlock.
Step two - take the heavy armour Master feat.
Step three - Cast armour of Agathys.
Step four - convince your cleric friend to take the warding bond spell.

Enter every battle with resistance to damage. Subtracting a further three points from heavy armour Master. This comes off your temporary hit points first dealing 15 points of cold damage to anyone that hits you. By the time those temporary hit points are gone you'll be getting more from your fiend lock class feature at first level.

You have a spare slot for a hellish rebuke if you want to troll someone.

Use your second wind from fighter if you get low.

All comes back on a short rest.

[Bobbyjackcorn]

Pick up one or two of the Warlock's defensive spells.
Armor of Agathys of Mirror Image are both good in different ways. Neither needs concentration. Mirror Image for heavy hitting single creatures, AoA for smaller stuff/packs.
If you get up to Warlock 7 there's Shadow of Moil which is quite good too.

A bit of Barbarian works well with Armor of Agathys as well...but I don't think I really recommend it here. Getting a Fighter archetype (Cavalier might be good!) or just more Warlock are probably the more powerful options.
For feats:
GWM won't help you tank...but Polearm Master would big time plus give you an always-on bonus action attack.
You already have an 18 in con, I don't see Tough being that valuable. Did you take fighter at level 1 for con save proficiency? If not Warcaster might be a good idea.
Heavy armor master works well with Armor of Agathys.

Thanks! I was eyeing up Polearm Master, I figured GWM would be useful because I have a very good attack modifier, offsetting the "-5 +10" for dealing damage to big easier to hit stuff, and the bonus action attack on dropping enemies could be good for spreading the damage around, but PAM is great too!
Tough seemed reasonable because we get *hella* beat up all the time and any hit points are good hit points.
AoA and M.I are 110% great suggestions either way, again thanks!


Step one - play a fiend warlock.
Step two - take the heavy armour Master feat.
Step three - Cast armour of Agathys.
Step four - convince your cleric friend to take the warding bond spell.

Enter every battle with resistance to damage. Subtracting a further three points from heavy armour Master. This comes off your temporary hit points first dealing 15 points of cold damage to anyone that hits you. By the time those temporary hit points are gone you'll be getting more from your fiend lock class feature at first level.

You have a spare slot for a hellish rebuke if you want to troll someone.

Use your second wind from fighter if you get low.

All comes back on a short rest.

Except none of this applies to me because I'm *not a fiend warlock* and there is no cleric in our party?

[Vogie]

I like it

Since you're already warlock level 5, there are probably better invocations than Eyes of the Rune Keeper (unless the party/campaign needs it, of course).
Since you don't use AoA, You may think of the Fiendish Vigor invocation, giving you the ability to start each battle with 8THP, and then the ability to use an action to gain 1d4+4 THP in the midst of a battle.
Improved pact weapon will make sure you have a +1 weapon at all times, and can use it as a casting focus.
If you feel you can normally keep Hex up, Maddening Hex (or later, Relentless Hex) may give you additional AoE damage
Even Cloak of Flies will give you an intimidating aura that, since you don't have high charisma, an aura of 1 poison damage/turn.



If you don't want to dive into Barbarian, another level of fighter will give you:

Battlemaster - Evasive Footwork & Parry to have superiority dice that you can use as +AC or Flat DR, respectively, plus another maneuver of choice. Probably Tripping or Disarming, depending on your campaign style.
Cavalier - Unwavering Mark is awesome for a tank - "While it is within 5 feet of you, a creature marked by you has disadvantage on any attack roll that doesn’t target you."
Eldritch Knight - You can the Weapon Bond Ability to be bonded to a shield. This would allow you to fight with a glaive normally, but also summon a shield to your arm as a bonus action (free +2 AC). This allows you to switch weapons really easily, if that's something you're interested in. You can also bond another weapon, a sword/mace to be summoned via bonus action (vs pact blades, which are an entire action), or use the Shadow Blade spell as your main weapon while holding a shield (although concentration may be an issue).
Samurai - Fighting Spirit Gives +5 THP & advantage on an attack 3x/LR, which can be really useful both offensively & defensively (This will overwrite the THP from Fiendish Vigor though). Since it's a bonus action, & thus you use it during your turn, you can make sure it doesn't clash with the advantage generated by Entropic Ward.


If you do decide to dip into Barbarian, I would suggest you consider Eldritch Smite as an invocation. Eldritch Smite allows you a way to use spell slots while raging, which gives both you and other melees advantage to hit the target while they're knocked prone.

[Bobbyjackcorn]

I like it

Since you're already warlock level 5, there are probably better invocations than Eyes of the Rune Keeper (unless the party/campaign needs it, of course).

Since you don't use AoA, You may think of the Fiendish Vigor invocation, giving you the ability to start each battle with 8THP, and then the ability to use an action to gain 1d4+4 THP in the midst of a battle.
Improved pact weapon will make sure you have a +1 weapon at all times, and can use it as a casting focus.
If you feel you can normally keep Hex up, Maddening Hex (or later, Relentless Hex) may give you additional AoE damage
Even Cloak of Flies will give you an intimidating aura that, since you don't have high charisma, an aura of 1 poison damage/turn.



If you don't want to dive into Barbarian, another level of fighter will give you:

Battlemaster - Evasive Footwork & Parry to have superiority dice that you can use as +AC or Flat DR, respectively, plus another maneuver of choice. Probably Tripping or Disarming, depending on your campaign style.
Cavalier - Unwavering Mark is awesome for a tank - "While it is within 5 feet of you, a creature marked by you has disadvantage on any attack roll that doesn’t target you."
Eldritch Knight - You can the Weapon Bond Ability to be bonded to a shield. This would allow you to fight with a glaive normally, but also summon a shield to your arm as a bonus action (free +2 AC). This allows you to switch weapons really easily, if that's something you're interested in. You can also bond another weapon, a sword/mace to be summoned via bonus action (vs pact blades, which are an entire action), or use the Shadow Blade spell as your main weapon while holding a shield (although concentration may be an issue).
Samurai - Fighting Spirit Gives +5 THP & advantage on an attack 3x/LR, which can be really useful both offensively & defensively (This will overwrite the THP from Fiendish Vigor though). Since it's a bonus action, & thus you use it during your turn, you can make sure it doesn't clash with the advantage generated by Entropic Ward.


If you do decide to dip into Barbarian, I would suggest you consider Eldritch Smite as an invocation. Eldritch Smite allows you a way to use spell slots while raging, which gives both you and other melees advantage to hit the target while they're knocked prone.

All great ideas! I think that Eyes has really come in handy, and it's central to part of the character, so I'm avoiding changing it.
You mentioned that my charisma isn't that high? An 18 is pretty high last time I checked :smalltongue:.
Cavalier does sound really tempting as well for an alternative to barbarian.
Thanks!

[Vogie]

All great ideas! I think that Eyes has really come in handy, and it's central to part of the character, so I'm avoiding changing it.
You mentioned that my charisma isn't that high? An 18 is pretty high last time I checked :smalltongue:.
Cavalier does sound really tempting as well for an alternative to barbarian.
Thanks!

My bad, I thought you had a 12 in Charisma and 18 intelligence, which now that I'm thinking about it makes literally no sense.

In that case both Cloak of Flies and Maddening Hex would be pretty awesome, lol.

[Easy_Lee]

I'd continue with straight warlock, actually. In two levels, you can pick up Shadow of Moil. This makes it so that enemies cannot see you without special sight (blindsight or tremorsense, Devil's Sight doesn't work).

Your attacks have advantage - effective +3 to hit.
Enemy attacks have disadvantage against you - effective +3 to your AC.
Many single-target spells can no longer target you as they require a target the caster can see.
Your movement does not provoke opportunity attacks as enemies cannot see you.

Combined with dealing damage to attackers, this is the best tank spell (in my opinion) that you'll get from anything in tier 2. You'll still be casting this right up until level 19 (assuming you make it that far) when you can get Foresight. Additionally, attacking from strange shadowy un-light fits well with the standard GOO theme.

[krunchyfrogg]

Wouldn’t a blade pact hexblade warlock (14 DEX for medium armor) handle it pretty well?

[Easy_Lee]

Wouldn’t a blade pact hexblade warlock (14 DEX for medium armor) handle it pretty well?

He's already a GOO.

However, back on PM, if you combine PM with Shadow of Moil you can step into range, make an attack, then step back out of range without any fear of opportunity attacks, regardless of enemy reach. That forces the enemy to enter your reach and provoke an opportunity attack every time they want to attack you.

[Specter]

Barbarian is bad for casters, unless you don't plan on casting, in which case, why go Warlock?
What you want is another level of Fighter for Eldritch Knight, that will give you Shield, Absorb Elements and another slot pool. After that, take Tough and be glad.

[Vogie]

Wouldn’t a blade pact hexblade warlock (14 DEX for medium armor) handle it pretty well?

He's already a fighter (with heavy armor, most likely) and a GOO lock.

I did want to mention that, unless you like the ability to divvy up beams from EB, you may want to switch to Toll the Dead. Wisdom saving throws may be easier to fail than your EB is to hit, and it scales faster after the target is damaged.